Write What Feels Right Right Now

I've mentioned before that ideas come steadily to me on average, but it isn't a constant flow. Although I do get dry spells, I will also have times where I get more ideas than I can work on at a time. In these cases, I write down notes to remember that idea when I have the time to come back to it.

A funny thing happens, though, when I return to an idea: I don't care for it at all. I have a list of ideas for blog topics, all of which came to me while I was writing another post. Every night, I take the list and look for an idea to write about. Most times, few if any of them are appealing to me. It's not that these are bad ideas; I liked them so much when they came to me that I wrote them down so I could write them later. The only problem is that I'm not in the same mindset that I was in when I scribbled those notes.

I very much believe that we need to follow our gut. When an idea just feels right, you should go and write it. If it doesn't feel right, don't force it (unless you're on deadline and have no choice). The catch is that an idea isn't going to be the right idea forever. If you don't jump on it, you may never get that feeling again. If you do get it again, it may take a while.

Now, you might be thinking that if an idea isn't eternally right, maybe it's best to avoid. I disagree. The execution of an idea can be timeless, even if the desire to execute that idea is not. In fact, I have come across my own writing that was so old I didn't remember writing it. When I read it, I was so impressed by it that I wasn't sure I could write something so good. But, if I tried to write a similar piece again, it would never compare. The desire was gone, but the piece lived on and was good.

So write what feels right. And if an idea feels right, then write it right away. If you don't you may lose it forever.